After an initial flood that started shortly after the device's late 2007 release, iPod touch case releases have recently been on the dry side. Over the last couple of weeks, however, we've had the chance to test three new options: iSkin's iSkin touch ($30), Gecko Gear's Safe Case (AU$30/US$29), and Incase's Slider Case ($35). All three of these cases offer similar levels of protection, but differ in looks and other small ways; separate reviews today offer brief looks at each.

Last year, iSkin released Revo for iPhone, a novel silicone rubber case that unfortunately fell short of the company’s typically high standards of usability and design. iSkin touch is a less gimmicky and more affordable version, preserving the good core concept of a two-color case, adding a detachable rotating belt clip, and doing away with the hard plastic shield and privacy screen protector that didn’t do much for us in the previous incarnation.

This time, iSkin has created five colors of iSkin touch, and they’re generally good ones: each has black either as an accent or as the body color, while alternating between clear, blue, pink, red, and brown for the other color. The rear and sides of each case have a nice grippy dotted texture, and iSkin provides not only the hard plastic, ratcheting belt clip, but also an insert that fills in the two small holes it leaves when removed from the case.

That insert further helps iSkin touch achieve a scope of protection superior to the hard plastic cases we reviewed today: a clear screen protector is packaged with each iSkin touch, and coverage for every part of the iPod touch’s body save for its brightness sensor is offered either with a part-time rubber flap or as a full-time shield. While the bottom Dock Connector flap needs to be pulled back to use the case in Universal Docks, it does work with these and other accessories. Flexibility and give are virtues of iSkin’s rubber body; a greater tendency to attract dust is an offset.

Pricing is the primary reason iSkin touch falls short of our high recommendation. At $30, it’s $10 more expensive than PDO’s $20 TopSkin, which is extremely close in protection and features, but doesn’t look as nice; similarly, Marware’s SportGrip sells for half the price and offers similar coverage with fewer frills. iSkin’s color choices, tapering, and the class of its dual-toned rubber elevate this design above most other rubber competitors, but you’ll have to be willing to pay a premium for the privilege. Given how nice iSkin touch looks, we’d consider it.

Editors' Note: iLounge only reviews products in "final" form, but many companies now change their offerings - sometimes several times - after our reviews have been published.
This iLounge article provides more information on this practice, known as revving.